Improved joint for railroad-rails



, UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

rR. H. LAMBORN, on ALTooNA, PENNSYLVANIA,

IMPROVED JOINT Fon RAILROAD-RAILS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 4 [,437, dated February 2, 1864.

10 ala' whom t may concen.-

Be it known that I, R. H. LAMBORN, of Altoona, in the county of Blair and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefuly Improvement in Railroad-Joints; andV I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which-` f Figure l is a plan view,.Fig. 2 a side elevation,and Fig. 3 a transverse section through the dotted lines :v of Figs. 1 and 2, of Vtwo rails joined together by means of my said invention, like letters of reference indicating the same parts when in the dilerent figures. The object of this invention is the production of a bridge-iron joint for railroadrails that will not be costly or difficult of construction, application, andrepair, and that will be more durable and reliable for the purpose than any of the joints now in use. 7 It consists, substantially as hereinafter described and specified, in the construct-ion and use of a channel bar or trough of suicient strength and length to support and keep in line and surface77 between the usual crosst-ies the abutting ends of the rails, without the addition of splints,bl0cks,or other strengthening devices for the purpose, in combination with two yokes orclevises passing through the said rails and the bottom of the said channel-bar, near the said ends of the rails, and fastened in any suitable manner beneath the channel-bar.

My invention also consists in the employment, as hereinafter described and specified, of wedge-keys through the legs of the yokes or clevises, so that they shall bear directly across the under side of the channel-bar for the purpose of fastening the rails down rml y in the said bar, the latter being secured to the cross-ties by means of the usual spikes or bolts.

In the drawings, A A are the two abutting rails; B B, the yokes or clevises C, the channel-bar; D D,the wedge keys 5 E E, the the cross-ties, and F F the spikes.

The abutting end of each rail A A is cut square off, and at about three and a quarter inches, more or less, from the end a square hole, a', about an inch high and an inch and a half wide, more or less, is punched transversely through the rail between the head and foot iianges of the same, and the foot-ange on each side cut away below the hole about threequarters of an inch in depth and an inch and a half in width, more or less, .as indicated at a2, Figs. l and The channel-bar Gis a wrought-iron trough 0f rectangular cross-section, having its upright sides made about two inches high in the middle and sloped down at their ends, as indicated by the dotted lines G Gr in Fig. 2, to allow access in driving or drawing the spikes F F. It is made long enough to rest with its ends respectively'upon the two adjacent crossties F F, substantially as shown kin Figs. l and 2. The inside width of this channel-bar (l corresponds with the width of the flanged bottoms or bases of the rails, and has square holes c c (see Fig. 3) made through its botbom to correspond with the cuts a2 c2 of the rails A A when the ends of the latter are abutted together in the middle of the said channel-baril, substantially as shown in the same figures. v

The yokes or clevises B B each consist of a short wrought-iron bar of rectangular crosssection, about one and three-eighths of an inch wide and three-quarters of an inch thick, bent round at its middle b until its legs b2 b2 are brought parallel to each other and at such a distance apart as will adapt them to enter easily the two opposite cuts a2 a2 of the rail A after its one end has been carried through the larger hole, a', which is directly above the said cuts, as will hereinafter be more fully explained. the reception of a key-wedge, D, entering from one into the other, as seen in Fig. 3.

The key-wedges D D are each of rectangular cross-section and tapered in the usual manner. They are made long enough to project fromeach side ofthe channel-bar O after they have been driven firmly into their respective seats in the legs of the yokes or clevises B B in applying the invention.

The cross-ties E E are placed in the usual manner, about twenty inches apart from center to center, the ends of the channel-bar C resting directly upon them, as seen in Figs. l and 2. The spikes F F, which secure the channel-bar C to the cross-ties E E, pass through appropriate notches in the bottom flanges of the rails, and also through corre- The legs b2 b2 are also punchedfor sponding holes in the ends of the said channel-bar y and tightly into the cross-ties, as heretofore.

In applying my said invention, the channel-bar C is rst laid down upon the crossties E E, and the ends of the two rails A A then laid in the same, so that the joint between the former will be in the middle of the latter, and consequently the cuts a2 c2 of the said rails will correspond with the throughholes c c in the bottom ofthe channel-bar C.

The yoke or clevis B of each rail is now to be inserted. This is readily eected by raising the end of the rail, passing half the length of the clevis through the hole a', and then lowering the rail again into its former position, so as to cause the legs b2 b2 of the clevis to pass through their appropriate holes c c in the channel-bar. The two yokes or clevises having been thus adjusted 'into combination with the rails and channel-bar, their respective wedge-keys D D are then to be driven 'into them below the channel-bar, so as to firmly bind down the ends of the rails in the latter, substantially as represented in the drawings. The rails may now be aligned intrack77 and the channel-bar secured firmly down to the cross-ties by driving the spikes F F in the usual manner.

The wedge-keys require to be secured against becoming loosened in using the track, and. this is readily effected either by inserting, together with the key, a thin strip, d', of sheet metal, and then bending its ends, as seen'in the drawings,or by twisting the smaller end of the key after it has been' of the rails between the cross-ties; that the yokes orclevises, fastened down and operating together with the sides and bottom of the channel-bar, will rigidly keep the ends of the rails in line and surface77 in the said bar or trough, and that the latter, being securely spiked fast to the cross-ties, will effectually keep the whole in perfect alignment underl use.

It will be manifest th at the different parts of this joint can be manufactured with facility and cheapness,l because the channel-bar has a section which is easy to form in the rolls and the lengthy bar can readily be cut off in suitable lengths and punched for the yokes. The yokes can, if required, be cut off from a lengthy bar, punched for the keys, and bent ready for use by simple automatic machinery, and the wedge-keys are of the simplest form, and can easily be made rapidly by simple machinery.

In laying track77 it will only require that the parts be simply placed in juxtaposition upon the cross-ties and the keys and spikes driven.

In repairing track a rail may be quickly and easily taken out and another substituted at any time without disturbing the adjacent rails and fastenings. It is, therefore, not costly and difficult of construction,application, and repair, and, it is belived by the undersigned, will be more durable and reliable as a bridge-iron joint than any heretofore used.

In the construction of the different parts of this joint I wish it to be understood that I do not intend to confne'myself to the precise sizes and forms described and represented, asv these must, of course, be varied to suit the sizes and forms of the rails which may be used; but,

Having fully described my improved joint, what I claim as new therein of my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The use of the channel-bar G, in combination with the yokes or clevises B B, fastened under the said channelbar in any suitable manner, (for the purpose of securing the ends of the track-rails, as described,) the same being constructed and arranged together, substantially as described and sct forth. v

2. In combination with the track-rails, channel-bar, and yokes or clevises, arranged together as described, the employment of the wedge-keys D D, for the purpose of fastening the said parts together, as described and set forth.

It.' H. LAMBORN.

Witnesses:

BENJ. MoRIsoN, J Ali/ ins P. DIX, J AMEs MCCALUM. 

